Yes, that is true. I'm not aware of what percentage of the DVC units are sold, but the costs for any unsold plus the non-DVC units are borne by Disney.
I don’t think money is as much the issue, in that Disney monetizes the unsold portion by booking rooms and suites as part of the hotel. It’s very profitable for them, which is why I don’t think they’re in any hurry to sell the unsold points, or lower their price enough through incentives (aside from the occasional good deal) to sell the remaining inventory. This wasn’t their plan initially but I think its still a net positive.
Probably so.
I’m not sure either but last I heard it was 68-70% sold out. the way current sales are they expect to sell out 2028-2030. I think there’s something like 11 million points at Aulani.
I think that’s a healthy, realistic attitude. In February the adult hot tub was down for four days. We missed it, but it did come back while we were still there. We also try not to sweat the small stuff.
Perhaps since you just joined the boards in the last few months you are not aware of some of the maintenance issues. Most famous of those the unheated lazy river - that lasted for weeks and only got fixed when guests started bringing thermometers. But I can make a (long) list of services and amenities that have been cut back and other maintenance issues this board has been made aware of.
Yeah, I think we’re all aware. The lazy river issue was particularly annoying. I’ve found that whenever there’s a soda machine issue, it seems to get fixed within an hour or two, and the elevator button / gas lantern problems (I can never find the ones that are out) for me are kinda insignificant.
Yes I am new the boards but I am not new to Aulani. I’m well aware of the unheated lazy River, and some other issues. Before the pandemic (as non Dvc) we went once every 2-3 years. Joined DVC in ‘21 and have made 4 trips since. Still, non of these issues have overshadowed our desire to stay there, or our enjoyment of the resort, we’ve more than tripled our points there since our intial direct buy in.
Good point about major vs. minor issues. I’ll add another one. Bed bugs! Have never experienced them at Aulani, thank heaven. My wife and I live in Los Angeles and now go to Aulani twice a year, courtesy of our DVC points, which we bought in ‘20.
Oh Man, we haven't run into bed bugs. Grand Californian had an incident of them awhile back.
Agree about Hawaii being magical! You can add an unsatisfactory, over priced dinner that my wife and I had at Ama Ama, where the food was delivered lukewarm. I’ll try to think on other stuff too.
Didn’t know about that! Ugh.
We bought into Aulani and the villas at disneyland as we were paying $1-1.5K a night. We will recoup our investments in short order.
Nobody says you have to complain.
I say we stop the back and forth. Eager to see what new stuff you come up with. Who knows, I might agree with you!
I’ve been traveling internationally (non-Disney) and using my points at WDW - but as a DVC Aulani owner I continue to watch with interest. I will probably be back to Hawaii in the next year or so and will try Ama Ama b/c I love the location.
Don’t need the leis, but agree on everything else! I don’t think they’re glaring faults, but as you said they definitely can be improved as you described, and Aulani would be better for it. And I’m grateful you didn’t bring up the elevator buttons!
